Stacy's Mom
by MissMonnicaElectronica
Summary: A story based on the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. It's a bit different from the song, but the idea's definitely there. AH, AU, Canon Pairings, Future Lemons
1. Chapter 1 Stacy's Mom

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight's characters and plot, but I did purchase the book from Stephenie Meyer. **

**Stacy's Mom**

_Stacy, can I come over after school?_

_We can hang around by the pool  
Did your mom get back from her business trip?  
Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip?_

You know

_I'm not the little boy that I used to be  
I'm all grown up now_

_Baby can't you see?_

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on  
She's all I want 

_And I've waited for so long  
Stacy, can't you see _

_You're just not the girl for me  
I know it might be wrong but _

_I'm in love with Stacy's mom_

I'm completely fucked.

Actually, I've been fucked since my sixteenth birthday when my asshole of an older brother, James, brought home his girlfriend, Isabella Swan. Yeah, you guessed right. Isabella and Swan are the two words that got me in this cluster-fuck of shit.

My brother James and I had never been close. He always made me feel like I was his loser of a little brother and like I didn't belong. We were both adopted by Esme and Carlisle Cullen. They were my parents, for all intents and purposes. They also adopted a baby girl named Alice the year before they adopted me. She's one year older than me, and a hell of a lot closer to me than James.

When James came back home for my birthday with his new girlfriend, just a month after starting college, I took one look at her and decided she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

She had long, rich chocolaty colored hair that smelled of strawberries and wide, deep brown eyes framed by thick black eyelashes. Her skin was a creamy pale color, her lips were full and pink, and her smile made my heart stop. She had soft, gentle curves that made me want to wrap my arm around her waist.

But what's more was her personality. She had a gentle, modest way of speaking but was at the same time funny and interesting. Everything she did captured my interest. I wondered why she chose to put mustard on her hot dog before relish, and why she skipped the ketchup all together. I wondered why she smiled and looked at the table when Esme suggested that her dad get his hair cut by a lady by the name of Sue Clearwater. I found out that she preferred to be called Bella and I wondered why she didn't like Isabella. I discovered that she had lived in Forks before we moved there and wondered why she had chosen to move here with her dad and leave her mom.

And then I looked at James and wondered what the hell she was doing with him. He was loud, rude, and arrogant. He didn't have a gentle bone in his body, and all his jokes were so incredibly crude and stupid. My suspicions were confirmed the moment he kissed her and she stiffened and pulled away quickly.

We didn't see her again after that. James admitted that they broke up after only two months. Everyone had been disappointed, but I don't think anyone was as disappointed as me. I was happy they weren't together anymore, but I wanted more than anything to see her again.

A day doesn't go by that I don't think of her. Pathetic, right? Its been about seven years.

I am now almost twenty-four years old, and living in New York City. I haven't heard from James in I don't know how many years. He goes all over the world doing God knows what and visits Mom and Dad maybe once every two years, at best. I compose music for other people as a living but never actually perform it on my own. I've never wanted public fame, however I do teach at an elementary school a little ways away.

There's one little girl named Stacy Dwyer who I absolutely love. She has a strange shade of blond hair and big brown eyes and is the most polite child you will ever meet. Normally I don't teach second graders instrumental music, but she's special. She expressed great interest in my piano and I've recently taken on teaching her how to play for a half hour after school every Friday. I've never met her mother, as her grandmother drives her home on Fridays. Apparently her mom works late that day so she can be home during the weekends.

Anyway, this Sunday morning was just like any other. I made breakfast, worked on a new piece for a bit, made lunch, then went out for a walk to find inspiration. I usually just sit in the park down the road for an hour, or until one-thirty, and dreamed up melodies in my mind. Something always comes to me there. I often find more peace in the outdoors rather than in my apartment. The sound of birds chirping and the breeze blowing through the trees brings me perfect contentment. I know it sounds gay, but it's true. There's a specific spot surrounded by large oak trees and yellow and white pansies that is secluded from the rest of the park. I go to that spot each and every day, and not once have I ever been interrupted. It is, of course, the ideal place for me to think.

But today, I stayed at that spot for an hour…_and a half_.

Before you start laughing at me, that's not exactly the reason why I'm screwed, or fucked, or in a not-so-pleasant situation, or whatever you want to call it. It's just a contributing factor. If I had left after only one hour like I usually do, I wouldn't have gotten into this position.

I had looked at my watch and seen that it was two o'clock. I stood up and was about to walk forward when a strange feeling came over me, causing me to hesitate and continue standing exactly where I was. I wanted to move, but a little voice told me to stay put. I shook my head and laughed at myself for being so utterly stupid and took one step forward.

_Bam._

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. Something had smashed right into me. There was a substantial amount of weight on top of me, and my first thought was that a tree had fallen on top of me. However, whatever was on top of me was no where near as heavy as a tree. Just as I was about to open my eyes, I got a whiff of an amazing smell.

_Strawberries._

I opened my eyes and stared into the same wide, brown eyes that haunted my dreams almost every night.

"Isabella Swan?" I whispered in surprise.

She was as beautiful as I remembered her, and she looked almost exactly the same, except for the fact that she had side bangs, whereas before she hadn't had any bangs at all. And she had run straight into me.

A strand of her hair fell onto my cheek and I breathed in its scent. It was then I realized that she was lying on top of me, her hands on my chest and one of her legs in between my own. Her breasts were smooshed up against my chest and her top was low cut which revealed her bra. She followed my gaze and blushed, but when she met my eyes, all of my thoughts disappeared. The electricity in the air around us crackled and my breathing grew deeper and deeper. Her eyes seemed to fog over, and before I knew what had happened, her lips were on mine.

My hands went to her cheek and her hair, and both of hers tangled into my own hair. She trailed her tongue along my bottom lip, and I moaned. Her tongue pushed forward to meet mine, and I groaned again, only this time her moan mingled with my own. The moment I heard her sound of pleasure, I lost all reason.

My arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her against me. She responded just as willingly and wrapped her arms around my neck. She pushed on my chest and I leaned away from her immediately, but she sat up as well and began to undo the buttons of my shirt before resuming kissing me. When all the buttons were undone, she ran her hands across my chest. A shudder rippled through my body.

I reached for her shirt and undid the buttons even faster than she had done to me. I bent my head down and kissed each of her breasts softly. She sighed and whispered softly to me.

"What's your name?"

I was suddenly very nervous. I probably should have said something like, "It doesn't matter," but instead I told her the truth.

"Um…Edward Cullen."

She gasped and her eyes flew to mine. She stared at me for several seconds and I watched as recognition lit up her eyes.

"I remember you now," she said, a little louder than a whisper.

She pulled away from me quickly and did up her shirt.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head back and forth quickly while biting her bottom lip, then stood up. I stood up as well and grabbed her hand in my own. Now that I had kissed Bella, I knew I would die for her lips on mine a second time. It honestly freaked me out that she had this kind of an effect on me. I had only seen her once in my life, and her image had been burned in my brain since then. Now that I'd kissed her…

I didn't even want to think what I'd feel like without her.

"Bella, tell me. What did I do?"

She looked up into my eyes pleadingly, silently asking for me to understand.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just can't. I can't."

I was about to open my mouth to speak when her phone rang.

"One minute," she said as she pulled it from her jeans and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she said. Just her voice caused shivers to run up my spine and memories of my sixteenth birthday to flood through my brain.

"Hi Sweetie, how was school?"

My heart dropped. She had a kid. Was she married? Had she just cheated on her husband with me? Was that why she said she couldn't do this?

"Okay, I'll be home soon. What? No, we talked about this, little Miss Stacy Dwyer. You may _not_ eat Grandma's baking before I have a look at it myself."

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Stacy Dwyer. The wide brown eyes. The polite personality. She was Bella's child. Who had she gotten that strange shade of blond from? The only person I remembered who had hair like that was—

Fuck, no.

James's hair was just like hers. They broke up…seven years ago. And Stacy is…almost seven. Stacy Dwyer is my niece.

And I just kissed and did a whole lot more with her mother, who I have this inexplicable attraction to.

Oh, _fuck me._

_And I know that you think it's just a fantasy  
But since your dad walked out _

_Your mom could use a guy like me_

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on  
She's all I want 

_And I've waited so long  
Stacy, can't you see _

_You're just not the girl for me  
I know it might be wrong  
But I'm in love with Stacy's mom_


	2. Chapter 2 Miss Stacy

BPOV

"Bye, honey," I said to my daughter before snapping the phone shut. I looked back at Edward and was a little taken aback by his expression. His jaw was dropped, and his eyes had glazed over. Now that he knows I have a kid, I doubt he wants me.

I now remember his sixteenth birthday. Everything about the Cullen family made me smile; except for James. There was something about Edward that had intrigued me the moment I saw his picture. I think he was the main reason I went to back to Forks with James. When I saw Edward in person, I couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful he was. I had felt so much lust for him that I freaked myself out. He was only sixteen, for crying out loud. Yes, I was only two years older, but that was the difference between teenager and adult.

When I ran right into him, I knew I remembered him from somewhere, but I couldn't think clearly. He was so beautifully sexy and _so close_. My brain was clouded by his delicious scent and without even thinking about it, I kissed him. I was positive I would have remembered being kissed like that, so it canceled him out from as one night stand. Stupid me, I had to ask him his name and find out he was Mr. James Asshole's brother.

"Sorry about that," I whispered to Edward. When he didn't move from his strange posture, I spoke again.

"Right, so I'm sorry for jumping you like that. I have to go now, though, so…" I trailed off, taking a few steps away. When he didn't try to stop me, I felt both relief and as if I had been slapped in the face. He was just like any other guy who was frightened by the words, 'single mom'. Obviously he wasn't as different from his brother as I had thought.

I tucked my phone back into my pocket and ran past Edward, out from behind the oak trees. I ran faster than I ever had back to the house, concentrating on the screaming pain I felt in the stitch in my side instead of what had just happened at the park. I didn't slow down until I reached the front door. Stacy had it opened before I had even reached in my pocket for my keys. She looked me up and down with a smile on her face.

"Wow, Momma, you're all red and sweaty! Did you beat your time?" she asked with excitement in her eyes. I walked into the house and she shut the door behind me, waiting anxiously for my answer.

"I forgot to time myself," I panted, smiling slightly back at her. She made me feel happy no matter how upset I was.

"Oh, darn," she said, hands on her hips as she shook her head. "Would you please test Grandma's cookies now?" she asked hopefully, changing the subject.

I nodded and walked toward the kitchen. Stacy and I both gasped as soon as we rounded the corner. Flour covered absolutely every surface and gooey spills stuck to the floor. The sink was piled high with dishes and the tap was still running, causing water to overflow and splash on the ground. I ran forward to shut it off, but I slipped and fell onto my back with a shriek. Stacy ran forward and reached up to shut off the water herself. I gripped the edge of the counter and pulled myself back up into a standing position.

"I'm so sorry, Momma," Stacy whispered. "Grandma told me not to come into the kitchen until you got home. I shouldn't have listened." I tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled, despite the anger and exasperation I felt.

"It's not your fault at all, Miss Stacy," I promised, using her nickname. She grabbed a cloth and started wiping up the mess but I crouched down and took it from her.

"Honey, don't worry about it. This is a Mommy job. Get your bathing suit on and we'll go into the swimming pool after Grandma and I clean up and I take a shower, okay?"

She nodded and brushed the flour from her shirt. "Okay. Grandma's in the big bathroom right now, I think." I kissed her forehead quickly.

"Thank you. Go get your swim suit on."

She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the first floor. I followed her but walked all the way up to the third floor, into the master bathroom. Sure enough, Renee was crouched down under the vanity, searching for something.

"Looking for cleaning supplies, I hope?" I asked coolly as I leaned against the door frame. Renee jumped and turned around, smiling apologetically.

"You're home earlier than I expected," she said, ignoring my question. I sighed and shook my head angrily.

"How the hell does someone manage to destroy a gourmet kitchen in less than an hour?" I demanded.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Making peanut butter cookies for Stacy was harder than I thought."

"Oh, just for Stacy, really? It looks to me like you had enough batter to make enough cookies for a football team!"

"Oh, Bella, don't get your panties in a knot. I'll have it cleaned up in no time." I was about to argue, but I stopped myself. Honestly, I didn't want to deal with anything else today.

"Fine, Mom. But don't even think about entering the kitchen again when I'm not home, alright?"

"Sure, baby," she said, walking from the bathroom. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with my fingers in circular motions. Then I started the shower and washed all the sweat away from my body. I was entirely grateful for my mother. Without her, I don't know what I'd do. It wasn't easy raising a child without a husband. But she was erratic and harebrained, and sometimes I felt like I was a single mom with two children.

Edward continued to pop into my mind, but I pushed him out every time. It was best just to forget about it. I was extremely embarrassed that I had kissed a guy I didn't even know. I knew I would have done a lot more, too, if I hadn't asked him for his name. That wasn't me. I didn't just go around making out with people, even if they _were_ talking sex on legs. I had a lot more dignity than that.

With a sigh, I shut off the water and made my way to my bedroom to put on my bathing suit. It was a simple blue bikini, but it was comfortable. I doubt I would have the guts to where it out in public, but who needed to go out swimming when you had a pool in your backyard, anyway?

Stacy was sitting outside with a book in her hands when I stepped out of the house. It was a difficult book for her age, and I knew she'd grow up to love reading just as much as I did. She was an artistic child. She did well in art and English, but she also did well in gym. Luckily for her, she didn't inherit my poor sense of balance and hand/eye coordination.

"Ready?" I asked her. She set her book down and ran toward the pool, waiting for me to get in first. She wasn't allowed in the pool without an adult, as some parts were very deep and she wasn't overly strong at swimming yet.

I jumped into the water and landed with a splash. When I surfaced, Stacy was laughing. She walked down the ladder and went no deeper than where the water touched her chin.

"So, what did you do today at art school?" I asked with genuine interest. I had signed her up a couple weeks ago for Saturday morning classes and today had been her second time.

"It was so much fun!" she gushed happily. "We did water color painting on rice paper. Do you know what that is?" she asked with the hope of an answer 'no' clear in her eyes.

"No, I don't. What is it?" I asked to appease her. She proceeded to launch into a lengthy explanation of what she had learned. I smiled and nodded the entire way through. Whenever Stacy was happy, I was happy.

"Can we go see the circus this week?" she asked me, again changing subjects quickly. She did that frequently. I never had much experience with children other than Stacy, so I wasn't sure if all kids had minds that went a million different places at once, or if it was just her.

"Hmm," I said, thinking about it. "I think we could. I could come home early from work on Friday and pick you up from school for the earlier show." Stacy was shaking her head before I had even finished.

"No, I have piano lessons on Fridays." My eyebrows shot up. This was news to me.

"Oh really? Since when?"

"Since I told Mr. C. I liked his piano and he told me I should stay after school every Friday so he could teach me."

I frowned. It bothered me that my daughter had been staying after school, alone with a man I didn't know, without my knowledge.

"How many lessons have you had?"

Her eyes scrunched in concentration and she counted on her fingers. "Five."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked.

"Grandma said you would over react." Of course she did. Jeez, I was going to have to have a talk with my mother.

"Honey, you should always tell me about things like this. Please don't keep secrets from me."

"Okay, I won't. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Grandma can be a bit misleading. Stacy, do you think we could have Mr. C. come over to our house after school and he can teach you here?"

She frowned. "We need a piano."

"I'll buy you one."

Her eyes lit up like sparklers. "Really, Momma?"

"Yes. But you need to practice and use it, alright?" I said seriously.

"Oh yes, Momma, I will! Every day!"

When Stacy and I went back into the house, only a half hour later, the kitchen literally sparkled. I searched the room to make sure that the dirty dishes hadn't just been thrown out or everything had been stuffed into an empty cupboard. Strangely enough, everything was in perfect order. I didn't even want to know how Renee had cleaned it all up.

I made supper for Stacy and Renee, and after tucking my daughter in bed, I went back downstairs to talk to my mother before she left.

"Thanks for supper, Bella," she said, kissing me on the cheek. I crossed my arms and nodded.

"You're welcome. Mom, I need to ask you to do something." She gave me a weary look but nodded once.

"Please don't ever tell Stacy to keep secrets from me. I wish I knew she wanted to do piano." Renee seemed surprised at the direction I was going with this. She wrapped me up in a hug and then leaned away after a few seconds. I took that as an apology.

"Oh, and I'm going to come home early on Friday. I want to meet this Mr. C.," I added. Renee's eyes lit up and she took on a mischievous expression.

"He's a really good-looking fellow, Bella. You should ask him out." I rolled my eyes but smiled. She was forever trying to set me up with someone. "No, really, honey. He's only two years younger. I think you'd like him."

I sighed, really not interested in this type of conversation after the day I'd had. "Thanks, Mom, but I have yet to find any twenty-three year old guy who's eager to become a dad."

She scrutinized my face and a knowing grin crept onto her face. "Ooo, what's his name?" she asked excitedly. I grimaced and opened the door before pushing her out.

"Thanks for your help, Mom! See you Friday! Love you!" I said loudly. She laughed and skipped to her car. I smiled as I watched her drive away, waving out the window as she went. After closing the door behind me, I started up my computer and searched for a good quality piano I could have shipped to me for Friday afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3 Stacy's Piano Teacher

EPOV

I don't know how fucking long I stood there after Bella left. I also don't know how the fuck I didn't get hit by a car or something when I walked back to the apartment in a daze. I ran over the new information and the events of this afternoon in my head over and over again, and made a mental list.

1. Made out with Isabella fucking Swan.

I didn't even know she lived in New York City. What were the chances of that? We both came from Washington, so who could have imagined that the woman of my dreams had moved across the country just like I had? And what were the chances that I'd run into her in a city as big as New York was? I didn't even happen to run into her in Forks, a town of just over three-thousand people when she visited her dad every summer for fuck's sake.

2. Learned that my favorite student happens to be my niece as well as Bella's daughter.

Cute, adorable, innocent Stacy Dwyer. The moment Bella said her name there wasn't a doubt in my mind that her Stacy was also my Stacy. Why the hell hadn't I looked at Stacy's eyes before and realized I'd only seen them on one other person? And sure, there was the slight chance that fucking James wasn't her father, but again, the only other person I'd seen that damn shade of blond on was him. James might not be my favorite person in the world, and he might not be blood related to me, but Stacy _is_ my niece. Carlisle and Esme would be absolutely heartbroken to learn that they lost seven years with their grandchild.

3. Bella didn't want to see me.

No fucking surprise there. I was almost one-hundred percent sure that James had knocked her up and left her. Plus, how awkward and frightening would it be if she hooked up with or dated the brother of the father of her child. But I sure as hell _would _need to see her in the future, since I taught her daughter and knew Stacy was my niece. I also knew that there was no way I'd be keeping Carlisle and Esme in the dark about this.

I trudged up the stairs to my apartment slowly. Here I was again, miles away from my older brother, and he was _still_ fucking up my life. Hell, he had probably fucked up the most important thing I ever wanted. I stuck my key into the door and pushed it open. The sound of the television drifted into the hallway and I frowned. When had I watched television today?

"Yo, Eddie!" a booming and familiar voice yelled. I rounded the corner and there sat Emmett, on my couch, with a beer in his hand and his feet up on the coffee table.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped. He grinned and held up his hands in surrender and grinned.

"Well, it's nice to see you, too, Emo-boy." I rolled my eyes and glared at him as I went to the fridge to grab a beer for myself. "Jesus, you're no fun anymore," he muttered. "Chicago's getting old so I thought I'd chill out in the big apple for a while. It'll be just like the old days, bro."

Emmett had been my childhood best friend. He ended up going to Northwestern after high school, whereas I went to NYU. We remained good friends over the years and visited each other frequently. I usually had at least an hour warning prior to his visits, though.

"So what, you're asking if you can move in?" I asked as I sat down on the couch beside him.

"No, I _am_ moving in. I'm all unpacked in the extra bedroom."

I sighed but smiled a bit. When I was in a shitty mood, Emmett's personality either cheered me up or made me feel shittier. Luckily, today he was making me feel better.

"So, let's hit some New York clubs! Time to celebrate the move!" he said, getting up from the couch and making his way to the door.

"Not that I'm unhappy you're here, but I really am not in the mood to go out right now," I muttered, sinking further back onto the couch. Partying was not at the top of my list tonight.

"What, are you PMSing?" Emmett joked as he started to pull off his shoes again. I didn't really appreciate the smart-ass comment, but at least he didn't push me anymore to go out.

"No. I basically was knocked to the ground when Isabella Swan ran into me." Emmett stopped in his tracks and looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"No fucking way," he whispered. I had talked about her one or two…or a million times over the years. He suddenly began to pull his shoes back on and pulled his car keys from his pocket. "I've got some heavy booze in the jeep. Your shitty supply of beer isn't going to be sufficient. Be back in thirty seconds." Emmett was back before I knew it and he immediately thrust a bottle of vodka into my hands.

"Drink, Bro," he ordered. I raised my eyebrows and stared at him incredulously.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I have so much work to do tomorrow and cannot afford to have a hangover."

"You're young!" Emmett said animatedly. "Drink!" I reluctantly took a small sip and ignored his disappointed glare.

"Why the fuck do you have vodka in the back of your car?"

"I bought it for you when I got here, Dude. You're welcome."

"Thanks," I said genuinely, taking another small sip.

"So what happened? Judging by the look on your face, something went wrong. Did you kiss her and get slapped?"

"No, Emmett. _She_ kissed _me_."

I launched into the story and explained how Bella had made out with me until she found out what my name was, and then how I discovered she had a daughter.

Emmett's eyes bulged out of his head. "She can't be married, though, right? From what you've told me about her, she wouldn't cheat on her husband."

I shook my head. "I don't think she's married, because her grandma picks her up from school and helps out a lot. I've never heard anything about a father."

"How did you get all that from a thirty-second phone call?" Emmett asked incredulously.

"She said her daughter's name, and I have a grade two student with the same name." Emmett's eyes got wider and wider. "Everything just clicked into place from there. My student has eyes _exactly_ like Bella. They're identical; I can't believe I never noticed it before."

"Man, who do you think the father is? Someone from when she was in University?" I shook my head with a smile on my face, though I was less than amused.

"I haven't even finished my story yet. Stacy has blond hair that's exactly the same shade as someone we both know. Can you guess who?"

Realization dawned on Emmett's face and he whispered, "Holy fucking shit."

"Yeah, that just about sums it up."

The room was silent for several minutes before Emmett burst out into loud guffaws. I glared at him angrily. What the hell was funny about this situation?

"Congratulations, Eddie, you're an uncle! It's a girl!"

"Shut the fuck up, Emmett! Can you not see how wrong this is? My mom and dad and Alice are going to be so upset that Stacy was kept from them! I can almost guarantee that James knocked Bella up and left her! And I'm practically in love with the mother of my brother's child!"

Emmett's laughs quieted down, but a grin still remained on his face. "Dude, you're not in love. You've only met her twice. And yeah, this is pretty fucked up, but it'll all work out once you get past that."

I stared at him incredulously. "Work out how?"

Emmett rolled his eyes as if I was missing something obvious. "Well once you tell your family, Bella will have to share the kid with you guys. She'll be tied to your family. Then you can ask her out and shit, and live happily ever after." Emmett finished sarcastically.

"Seriously? Date the mother of my niece?"

"Like I said dude, it's fucked up, but it'll work. Besides, James isn't even really a part of your family anymore, so that takes away some of the awkwardness." I sighed and leaned back, closing my eyes and taking a much bigger sip of the vodka. We sat in comfortable silence for a long time, and I almost thought Emmett had fallen asleep when he spoke.

"When are you gonna see her? I wanna meet her, too."

"I don't know, Emmett. I'm giving Stacy piano lessons, but her grandma always picks her up when it's over. I'll see her sometime, though, right?"

"Want my advice?" Emmett asked.

"No."

"Just get her address from the school computers, knock on her door, and tell her that you know everything. Make sure you also tell her that you teach her kid, and then tell her that your mom knows about Stacy now, too, and you don't want a big fight."

"I'm not going to fucking threaten her."

"You're right, you're way too much of a marshmallow to do this. Give me her address and I'll talk to her instead."

I opened my eyes and glared at my best friend. "Can we drop this for tonight? I don't want to discuss it anymore."

"Okay, Grandma," Emmett said as he stood up and walked to the spare bedroom. "See you tomorrow, bro." I didn't reply to him. Instead I stood up and walked to my own bedroom, willing myself to leave the vodka on the coffee table, knowing I would regret the hangover in the morning.

*

*

"Fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fucking shit," I muttered as I grabbed my shoes from the closet on Monday morning. I had a grade two music class first period this morning. I prayed as hard as I could that Stacy would be absent from school.

"Dude, chill," Emmett advised me. "It's not like you have to see Bella."

"Yeah, just my niece that I didn't know existed until a couple days ago," I muttered sarcastically. Emmett rolled his eyes (which he seemed to be doing a lot lately) and walked away.

I drive to the school was relatively unpleasant, as I'm sure you can understand. To say I was stressed out was an understatement. I tried to talk myself into believing that I could just look at Stacy just like I always had; a smart, polite, amazing student. But a voice in the back of my mind told me that I wouldn't be able to do that.

I sat at my desk and bounced my leg nervously as I waited for the bell to ring. When the shrill sound pierced my ears and children began to file into the classroom, I actually began to hyperventilate. I counted each child as they walked through the door, knowing this class had twenty-five students in it.

_Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…_

I would see here in mere seconds.

_Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…_

The twenty-third student began to close the door behind him, when a small hand stopped it. My breath caught.

_Twenty-four._

A little girl with black hair walked into the classroom last and firmly shut the door behind her. I sat in my desk and stared at the door for almost a minute, dumbfounded. Stacy was really and truly absent today. My prayers had actually been answered.

Disappointment began to seep into my brain, shocking me even more. The subconscious part of my mind had wanted Stacy to be here. It seemed I had a side to me that wished for pain.

Shaking my head, I stood up and began today's lesson.

"Good morning," I said to the twenty-four second grade students.

"Good morning Mr. C.," they sang in chorus. I smiled. There was something about children that warmed your heart.

"So today we're going to sing a few warm up songs, and I'm going to teach you a new one for the Remembrance Day gathering, alright?" They all murmured words of approval. "Okay, so who remembers the first song—"

There was suddenly a noise coming from the end of the room, and then the creak of the door as it opened. My gaze was instantly caught in a pair of deep, wide brown eyes and my hands began to shake. Flashes of memories from the park flooded my mind, and I had to close my eyelids to regain my composure. I took a deep breath and reopened them just as Stacy Dwyer began to speak.

"I'm very sorry I'm late, Mr. C.," she said in her soft, gentle voice. "My water bottle spilled in the hall and I had to get some paper towels to clean it up."

Just like that, my insecurities and worries disappeared. This charming young girl was _my_ niece. She was a part of _my_ family, and she had been kept from me for seven years. I knew I wanted and needed to introduce her to the people she never knew as her grandparents and aunt, and make sure she was completely involved with the other half of her family she didn't even know she had. Even if it wiped away all my chances of being with Bella. I owed this to Stacy, to my parents, and to Alice.

"It's perfectly fine Stacy. It isn't your fault."

I heard the double meaning in my own words and watched Stacy smile as she skipped to her seat. I cleared my throat and focused on the class in front of me.

"As I was saying, who remembers the first song in the warm-up list?"

Class passed faster than I expected, and I had a prep second period. When the bell rang, the kids jumped up and ran to the door. Except for Stacy.

"Do you need something, Peanut?" I asked, momentarily shocked by the nickname I had just made up. She giggled at the name, too, and nodded.

"My momma found out that I was taking piano lessons, and—"

"She didn't know before?" I asked, cutting her off, with a frown on my face. Stacy shook her head.

"My grandma told me to keep it a secret. But Mom found out, and now she says I have to ask you to come over to our house to teach me," she said seriously as the color drained from my face. She pulled a folded paper from her pocket and handed it to me. "That's our address. Sorry, Mr. C."

I shook my head and smiled a bit. "Don't worry about it. I'll be there after school on Friday," I promised, even though I was a little pissed off. It seemed that Bella assumed that she didn't have to ask me if I could teach lessons at her house. She obviously didn't realize that Stacy's music teacher was already doing her a big favor by teaching her daughter, for free, how to play piano on his own time.

She grinned and began to walk to the door. Before I could stop myself, I asked her a question that had been bothering me immensely.

"Stacy, will your father be home?"

She shook her head quickly. "I don't have a Daddy. He died."

With that, she ran to the door, back to her classroom before her teacher could give her heck, leaving me with a more questions and more anger than before.

*

*

*

As the end of the day bell rang Friday afternoon, a middle aged woman came barreling into my room, Stacy at her heels. She smiled and reached out to shake my hand.

"Hello, Mr. Cullen," she said, grinning. "I'm Renee Dwyer, Stacy's grandmother." I smiled back and shook her hand firmly. This had to be Bella's mom. She looked like she was probably about forty-five years old, which caused me to wonder how young she had been when she had Bella.

"It's wonderful to meet you," I said sincerely.

"I'm so glad you were able to teach Stacy at the house. My daughter tends to overreact quite a lot," she said with a laugh. I smiled back and followed her out to the parking lot.

"The house isn't far away," she informed me. "You can just follow us in your car."

I nodded and waved to Stacy as she jumped into the back of her grandma's SUV. As I followed Renee, I began to feel quite determined about this lesson. I intended on staying a little longer so I could see Bella's face when she learned that I taught her daughter.

To say I was pissed off at Bella would be an understatement. She had kept Stacy completely hidden away from her father's side of the family. I couldn't fathom why Bella would tell her that James was dead. How could she lie to her daughter about something like that? I was absolutely positive of one thing. Stacy Dwyer was going to become a Cullen.

Renee turned onto a long driveway, and I gasped as I took in my surroundings. The house was beautiful. I wondered how the hell a single mom had made enough money to live somewhere like this. I knew her family didn't come from money. Her Dad was and is the police chief of Forks, and I remember her saying that her mom had been a yoga instructor. If she hadn't inherited it, how had she made it?

I turned off the car and followed Renee and Stacy into the house. The inside matched the spectacular outside. I was used to living in houses like this as my parents were wealthy, but it shocked me that Bella lived this kind of lifestyle. She had said she felt so out of place at my birthday party in a house as grand as ours had been.

"So, the piano just arrived today," Renee said, pointing to a room on the left. "Bella, my daughter will be coming home early, as she would like to meet you. Have fun!"

I looked down at Stacy, who was grinning from ear to ear. "Ready?" I asked her. She began to squeal, reminding me a lot of Alice. I shook my head and followed her into the living room, anxious for Bella's arrival.

BPOV

I checked the clock Friday afternoon as gasped when I realized that it wasn't as early as I thought. It was three-thirty, which meant Stacy's piano lesson was almost over. I gathered up my papers and ran to my car as I flew out of the parking lot. I drove home as quickly as I could without exceeding the speed limit. My dad was a police officer, what can I say? I have no free will anymore when it comes to the law.

I opened the door to the house and shut it behind me quietly.

"Stacy?" I called out.

"In here, Mama!" she called from the piano room. I smiled at the excited tone of her voice and thanked God that her teacher had not yet left. The sound of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" drifted into the hallway.

"Can you play me something now?" I heard her ask excitedly. A complex piece of music filled my ears and I swear I almost melted. I had never heard a more beautiful piano piece and I was in complete awe of the man who was so talented as to play like that. He was better than Beethoven. Even more anxious to meet this man, I pushed open the French doors and entered the room.

I stopped dead when I took in the disarray of bronze hair and the defined back muscles of the man seated on the piano bench before me.

"Momma, isn't he amazing?" Stacy gushed. I couldn't find myself able to answer her. He stopped playing and spun around to face me, not looking surprised at all to see me there. In fact, he looked impassive.

"Mr. C., this is my Mom. Mom, this is Mr. C."

"Hi," I squeaked.

Edward nodded. "Pleasure to meet you."

"I got to go to the bathroom," Stacy muttered, and with one last smile, she was gone. My heart beat fast and I looked at the floor as my breath came in shallow gasps. I heard the creak of the piano bench, telling me that Edward had stood up, and I heard his soft footsteps as he approached me.

"Well, hello again, Ms. Swan. Or is it Ms. Dwyer now?" he asked, irritation slipping into his carefully emotionless tone. Shit. It was obvious he knew something. Did he know Stacy was related to him?

"It's still Swan. I only changed Stacy's name."

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I teach her, or I never would have figured out that she's my niece."

I cringed at whispered, "Fuck," under my breath. He knew that James was Stacy's dad. "She's not your niece."

He raised an eyebrow but seemed a little relieved. "James isn't the father?" he demanded.

I met his gaze and nodded my head. "Yes he is, but—"

"Then I'd say that she's my niece. As well as my mother and father's granddaughter and my sister's niece."

I closed my eyes and shivered slightly. This was exactly the reason why I moved to the other side of the country. I didn't want Stacy to become a part of their family.

"James might be her biological father, but other than that, he has no relation to her. He isn't part of her family, so you aren't either."

"I beg to differ," he said harshly.

"Look, I don't want her involved with you! She doesn't need to know what an asshole her father is. I'm doing perfectly fine on my own and don't need you people!" I hissed. Edward seemed a little taken aback but recovered quickly.

"I honestly couldn't give a shit if she's involved with James. I'd actually prefer if she wasn't. But I'm not going to lie when I say I am seriously pissed that my parents have been living seven years without knowing they're grandparents."

"You aren't even related to Esme and Carlisle!" I said, instantly regretting the words the moment they came out. He looked at me as if I'd slapped him.

"Esme and Carlisle are my parents. My biological mother and father _are not_. They raised me to be who I am, and all the children I have will be their grandchildren. Stacy _is_ their grandchild, and you'd better realize that before I call them and fly them up to meet her." He began to walk to the door and I followed him. "Tell Stacy I said goodbye."

"Wait a minute," I said, pulling his arm to stop him. "I'm sorry I said that. I just want her to be happy, and I don't want her to meet her father."

"I haven't seen James in six years, so I don't think you need to worry about that." He pulled open the door and stopped before he shut it behind him. "I, however, don't think that telling Stacy her father is dead is the right was to handle things." My eyes widened and I reached out to block keep him from closing the door behind him.

"Wait," I pleaded again. My mind was whirling; I needed more questions answered. Was he going to call his parents? Worse, was he going to call James?

I walked forward and tripped over the side of the door, causing me to fall outside and shoot my hands out to keep from hitting my head on the cement. Before I got too far though, Edward reached out to catch me, and my hands hit his chest. He held my shoulders, trying to steady me as I leaned against him, my head in the crook of his neck.

Slowly, I looked up and met his eyes. They pierced me and shot lust shooting through my veins, just like they had last Saturday. My breathing picked up and I stared at his lips, while licking my own. I could hear Edward's breath speed up, too, and he leaned his head down as I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, waiting for his lips.

He suddenly leaned away and took several steps back. "Call me tonight if you want to discuss this more," he said. "Stacy has my number. If you don't call, I'm going to be calling my parents tomorrow night."

With that last comment, he was gone.


End file.
